Looking for a fun and (potentially) cheap late summer/early fall diversion? Then look no further than your local State or County Fair! I just ran across a website that has compiled a huge list of links to fairs from across the country. While I’m sure they’ve missed a few, it’s really quite impressive.

Although we used to go to the State Fair every year when I was a kid, we haven’t been as good about going now that we have kids of our own. In our defense, a big part of this has to do with variation in the quality of fairs from one locale to another. In some places, they’re great community gatherings. In others, well… Not so much.

I grew up in the midwest, and we had one of the top State Fairs in the country. It was huge, well organized, and they had tons of fun stuff. And I’m not talking here about the Midway. Rather, I’m talking about tractors for kids to climb around on, all kinds of interesting livestock, free music performances, local fish and wildlife exhibitions, excellent mini-donuts, all the milk you could drink for a quarter (yes, really), gigantic turkey legs, etc. That’s what kept us coming back.

But that was three states ago. To be perfectly honest, our most recent State Fair experience was rather depressing, and we’ve never really felt like going back. That being said, we’ve never been to the Fair in our current state, and I just learned today that it’ll be taking place in a bit over a month. Unfortunately, it’s a couple hours away. Nonetheless, it might be worth a road trip to check it out.

As for you, I highly recommend that you check the list and see if there’s anything interesting going on in your neck of the woods.